Many of you were interested in the first post about the development status of the next stable Zentyal version (Zentyal 3.0, to be released in September 2012). As we published the post few months ago already, we thought it would be good idea to write another update summing up shortly the advances. So, here we go!

1/6 Upgrade to Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS

As you know, the single most important change in Zentyal 3.0 is that it will be based on the Ubuntu Server 12.04, that was published in the end of April. The first Zentyal 3.0 beta installer (Zentyal 2.3) based on Ubuntu Server 12.04 was published already and the second beta installer (Zentyal 2.3-1) should be out in couple of weeks too!

How can you help? Help in testing is warmly welcome! Download the beta installer and let us know through the Forum or Trac whatever flaws you come up with!

2/6 New Samba4 Module

The first alpha version of the Samba4 module was already published in the first Zentyal 3.0 beta installer! In this first version some features were still missing, but when completed, Samba4 module will offer a full replacement for Microsoft Active Directory for users and resource management.

The second Zentyal 3.0 beta installer, that will be published in couple of weeks, will include a new version of the Samba4 module and it will introduce some fixes and enhancements as well as new synchronization scheme based on Samba LDB modules and the use of its’ LDAP interface instead of having to use the command line tools.

How can you help? Help us testing the Samba4 module! Download the beta installer and let us know through the Forum or Trac whatever issues you come up with!

3/6 Single Sign-On (Kerberos)

The Single Sign-On (SSO) feature, based on the Kerberos authentication protocol, will allow your users to access to all their network services (email, proxy…) introducing their username and password only once.

The Zentyal Development Team has been working hard on this feature and we’re now in the final countdown for publishing the Kerberos SSO features: implementation is finished and we’re in the internal testing stage. Currently we have SSO supported for mail and proxy modules, on Windows and Linux platforms. The second Zentyal 3.0 beta installer, that will be published in couple of weeks, will also include this feature!

How can you help? Stay tuned! The next Zentyal 3.0 beta installer will include this feature and we’re looking forward to receiving your feedback on it!

4/6 Zentyal Desktop for Ubuntu

The aim of this module is to ease the management of Ubuntu Desktops, an advanced version of the currently available Zentyal Desktop. Unfortunately we still didn’t have time to start with the development of this module.

How can you help? Besides testing, auto-configuration of services is based on the idea that we would provide just a framework to interact with Zentyal server, and the Community Members would implement plugins for different applications (Evolution, KMail, Thunderbird, etc.) Zentyal Forum has it´s own Zentyal Desktop board, where you can join the conversation regarding necessary plugins, give feedback, etc.

5/6 Usability Improvements

Since the last update, the Zentyal Development Team has been focused specially on improving the Zentyal server speed, responsiveness of the user interface and reliability of the configuration backend. All these enhancements will be included in the second Zentyal 3.0 beta installer, that will be published in couple of weeks.

How can you help? Stay tuned! The next Zentyal 3.0 beta installer will include these improvements and we’re looking forward to receiving your feedback!

6/6 Thin Clients Module

Zentyal Thin Clients module will help to deploy and manage a thin client installation, where user applications are transparently run on the server while they are being used on the workstations. The main advantages of this type of installations are that low-cost or outdated hardware can be used for the workstations, while latest applications are run on the server and workstation management is simplified as all clients run the same image from the server.

The first version of the Zentyal Thin Client Module (zentyal-ltsp) is already available for testing and the current features allow the users to: